Stents or stent grafts are examples of expandable endoluminal prosthetic devices which are used to maintain, open or dilate stenotic lesions in body lumens or to cover and repair an aneurysm. Vascular disease may occur at a branch or bifurcation in a vessel. Placement and deployment of these prosthetic devices at bifurcations can often be problematic. One current technique is to initially deploy across an aneurysm, a main body prosthetic device having a side wall opening. The side wall opening is aligned with the side branch ostium. A second prosthetic device is then deployed through the main body prosthetic device side wall opening and into the side branch vessel. Procedural complications are often encountered while practicing this technique. These complications typically relate to the accurate placement of the main body prosthetic device and in particular to the precise alignment of the side wall opening to the native side branch vessel. Subsequent placement of the side branch guidewire through the main body prosthetic device, through the side wall opening and then into the side branch vessel can also be problematic. The deployment of the side branch prosthetic device into the native vessel can present problems relating to the longitudinal placement of the device.
Alternate procedures for treating bifurcated vessels place the guidewires prior to the device deployments. After the main body prosthetic device is deployed, it is advantageous to then remove the main body delivery catheter prior to the delivery of the side branch prosthetic device. Typical delivery systems incorporate guidewires that are contained or captured within the delivery catheter. The catheter removal therefore requires careful management of the side branch guidewire to prevent its dislodgement during the removal of the delivery catheter.